Foodie Fridays, morris dancers, teenage markets, stalls for just £5 for a day – over the next fortnight markets around the country will be hosting all sorts of events as part of a celebration helping to bring our markets into the 21st century.

Five years ago the outlook for our food markets seemed bleak. A keynote national survey in 2009 found that more than half the country's markets were seeing falling incomes, while stall occupancy was tumbling too. In the 1980s and 1990s, the supermarkets had swept away trade from markets. Huge advertising budgets, price cuts and long opening hours pulled shoppers into the brightly lit supermarket aisles. Many markets, by comparison, were neglected. The amenities were rundown and this put some people off buying food at local markets, says Jackie Casey, the general market manager at Bolton market, which has recently had a £4.5m facelift.

"Even our loyal customers were concerned about the state of the loos, for example. Unless there was a brighter, cleaner feel to the market, it wasn't going to attract new innovative traders or customers," she explains. The 2009 study noted that "the rise of the supermarkets has coincided with a decline in markets and the independent high street". The lack of national collated data about markets led some to call it the "hidden sector", and the report, Markets 21 (pdf), pointed out that this had "led central and national government, both of which rely on evidence-based decision making, to ignore markets, on the basis that there is no evidence to support their contribution to policy and strategy".

Our markets may have been supporting more than 45,000 micro or small businesses, and have an annual turnover of more than £7.6bn, but, concluded the report, "if significant change does not materialise quickly, it is not unreasonable to suggest that somewhere between 20-25% of current markets will close within the next decade".

Two years later, in 2011, Mary Portas spoke up fervently in favour of markets in her landmark Portas review. "Markets are a fantastic way to bring a town to life … it is the oldest type of commerce … I believe markets can serve as fundamental traffic drivers back to our high streets. I saw for myself what a bustling lively market can do for a town centre when I visited Rotherham. On a market stall people can try out their ideas and get their business booming without too much upfront cost. And it's great for our town centres too, bringing in fresh ideas and products and preserving our nation's cultural heritage to boot."

Her recommendations included a national Market Day - which has now become the hugely successful Love Your Local Market Fortnight (LYLM). The campaign celebrated its first year in 2012, and has been so successful that it is now being rolled out in Europe and town councils: last month LYLM signed an agreement with France, Spain, Italy and Holland, all of which are hoping to follow Britain's example of making food markets fit for the 21st century.

This year, LYLM has over 875 markets in the UK signed up to hold thousands of events across the country to celebrate LYLM fortnight, which runs from 14-23 May. "Britain's markets are changing," says Ellie Gill, spokesperson for the Love Your Local Market campaign. "And we need them to change. We cannot rely on massive supermarkets and hugely long supply chains when the environment starts to go horribly wrong.

"Food markets must become what we need them to be in the 21st century. A network of local stalls offers the only reasonable way for us to sustainably buy and sell food," she says.

This year's celebration will be against a much brighter background for the sector. The 2012 national market survey saw the number of markets reporting a decrease in trade fall, from 34% the previous year to 26% in 2012. The number of markets seeing an increase in trade meanwhile rose, from 24% in 2011 to 28% in 2012. There has been a wave of investments in markets. In Bolton the local authority invested £4.5m into the market , and refurbishment under a £10m investment in Leeds Kirkgate market has just begun.

Markets are also fighting back with new initiatives such as the grocery delivery service run by markets in Yorkshire, including Leeds Kirkgate market, community markets, such as the Crystal Palace food market, in London, which has just celebrated its first anniversary, and schemes to allow start-ups and younger entrepreneurs easier, cheaper access to stalls. One of the Crystal Palace's key successes has been the Patchwork Farm stall, laden with vegetables, grown within walking distance of the market. "There's been a big influx of farmer's markets and was an industry response to bring people back from the supermarkets," says Graham Wilson, spokesperson for UK markets organisation Nabma.

There are now nearly 800 regular farmers' markets, according to Farma, a cooperative of UK farmers , and they're opening weekly, rather than monthly, with more products. "This means people can realistically do a proper shop there," says Farma spokesperson Michael Mack.

New markets are beginning to open across the country. The new Local Motive Market opening in Edinburgh Waverley train station on 6 June is run as a social enterprise, with strong links to the local community. You can stroll down platform 2 and find hot food, locally-made chocolate, chutneys, charcuterie, bread, cheese and beer.

"It may be on a station but this is also about the local community," says Vicky McDonald, director of Edinburgh Markets and the Local Motive Market. "It'll offer produce at affordable prices."

McDonald says the same is true of the Tram Stop Market, based on the corner of York Street, in Edinburgh. "These markets are selling food in a sustainable way: it's about offering great food at reasonable prices so local traders can make a living and local residents can afford to buy," she says. The same baker that sells organic sourdough bread at the market also sells to wholesalers. The latter's loaves end up in pricey delis, when it's the same product you can buy at the market.

Rachel de Thample, author of Less Meat, More Veg , who helped set up the thriving Crystal Palace food market says: "We've had everything on our patchwork stall [a stall specialising in local produce] from fresh horseradish roots pulled from local allotments, the biggest cabbage I've ever seen, plump gooseberries, buckets of courgettes and apples, and the most beautiful salad ever (made from a collection of leaves, herbs and flowers from our various gardens) and it's sold for just 50p a bag."

The organisers work with the traders to ensure there's something for all budgets. "Jacob's Ladder, the local butchers, for instance, price matched their biodynamic minced beef with that of our local Sainsbury's to help those coming to the market on low budgets," says De Thample.

In Somerset, the newly revamped Langport market is set to launch, on 30 May, after £20,000 worth of investment from the council and the Market Town Investment Group – the funding devised by high street campaigner Mary Portas. The market area has been made more accessible and it'll sell local fruit, vegetables, jam and cheese.

Peter Roberts, chairman of Langport Area Business Group explains: "We're not selling a grotty end of range products: we're selling decent local produce. We want this to be a place where locals can shop affordably and where you get a specialised, helpful service."

If you've not shopped at a market for a while, you may be surprised by how affordable even the prestigious markets are, says Celia Brooks, food writer, chef and founder of Gastrotours. She says: "For vegetables, fruit, and fish, for example, markets are very affordable. I was once asked to make guacamole for sixty people and I couldn't pay supermarket prices for sixty avocados. So, I went to Borough market in London and got a whole crate at much cheaper price."

Do you support your local food market? Are you experiencing a resurgence in food stalls in your area, or feel a need to boost local community shopping away from the bigger stores? Let us know with your comments below.

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